{"id":1788143,"date":"2026-02-23T17:38:33","date_gmt":"2026-02-23T14:38:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1788143"},"modified":"2026-02-23T17:38:33","modified_gmt":"2026-02-23T14:38:33","slug":"valves-new-deadlock-shooter-nearly-as-popular-on-steam-as-overwatch-despite-being-invite-only-and-far-from-finished","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1788143","title":{"rendered":"Valve&#8217;s new Deadlock shooter nearly as popular on Steam as Overwatch, despite being invite-only and far from finished"},"content":{"rendered":"<article class=\"article \" data-ads=\"true\" data-article-type=\"news\" data-article-group=\"news\" data-paywalled=\"false\" data-premium=\"false\" data-sponsored=\"false\" data-type=\"article\">\n<header class=\"article_header\" data-component=\"article-header\">\n<div class=\"breadcrumbs\">\n<nav class=\"nav_breadcrumbs\" data-component=\"nav-breadcrumbs\" aria-label=\"Breadcrumb\">\n<ul class=\"nav-links\">\n<li>\n                <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/\" data-active=\"false\"><br \/>\n                      Home<br \/>\n                <\/a>\n            <\/li>\n<li>\n                <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/news\" data-active=\"false\"><br \/>\n                      News<br \/>\n                <\/a>\n            <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/nav><\/div>\n<div class=\"headline_details\" id=\"main-content\">\n<h1 class=\"title\">Valve&#8217;s new Deadlock shooter nearly as popular on Steam as Overwatch, despite being invite-only and far from finished<\/h1>\n<p class=\"strapline\">It&#8217;s only at half life.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"headline_asset\">\n<figure class=\"headline_image_wrapper\">\n<p>        <img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"headline_image\" src=\"https:\/\/assetsio.gnwcdn.com\/deadlock_ZIdkKRX.jpg?width=570&amp;quality=85&amp;format=jpg&amp;dpr=3&amp;auto=webp\" alt=\"A pretty character with long curly purple hair and a, um, unicorn horn - and a leather jacket and a crop top - stands holding a star in front of the camera. It's Celeste from Valve's Dealock.\" loading=\"eager\" data-uri=\"deadlock_ZIdkKRX.jpg\" data-lightbox width=\"570\" height=\"321\"><figcaption>\n          <span class=\"attribution\">Image credit: <cite>Valve<\/cite><\/span><br \/>\n        <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"metadata\">\n<div class=\"avatar\">\n<p>    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Robert Purchese avatar\" src=\"https:\/\/assetsio.gnwcdn.com\/user-9946-originalxoriginal-14-03-23.jpg?width=2048&amp;height=2048&amp;fit=bounds&amp;quality=85&amp;format=jpg&amp;auto=webp\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1\" width=\"1024\" height=\"1017\"><\/p>\n<p>  <img alt=\"Robert Purchese avatar\" data-autosize=\"crop_lossy\" data-uri=\"user-9946-originalxoriginal-14-03-23.jpg\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1\" width=\"1024\" height=\"1017\">\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"text\">\n<div class=\"byline\">\n                  <span class=\"article_type\" data-slug=\"news\"><br \/>\n                    News<br \/>\n                  <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"by\">by<\/span> <span class=\"author\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/authors\/robert-purchese\">Robert Purchese<\/a><\/span>                    <span class=\"job_title\"><br \/>\n                      Associate Editor<br \/>\n                    <\/span>\n            <\/div>\n<div class=\"published_at\">\nPublished on <time datetime=\"2026-02-23T17:38:33+00:00\">Feb. 23, 2026<\/time>              <\/div>\n<div class=\"comments\">\n      <a class=\"comments__link comments-bubble\" href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/valves-deadlock-nearly-as-popular-as-overwatch?view=comments\" rel=\"nofollow\"><br \/>\n          4 comments<br \/>\n      <\/a>\n    <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"mypop-header-wrapper\">\n<p><button class=\"mypop-button button wide\" data-state=\"follow\" data-type=\"tag\" data-uuid=\"62342825-9489-411a-b5cc-dd548919012f\" data-name=\"Deadlock\" data-follow-text=\"Follow Deadlock\" data-unfollow-text=\"Following Deadlock\" data-aria-follow-text=\"Follow Deadlock\" data-aria-unfollow-text=\"Following Deadlock\" data-popup=\"true\" data-force-login=\"true\" aria-label=\"Follow Deadlock\" title=\"Follow Deadlock\"><br \/>\n  Follow Deadlock<br \/>\n<\/button>          <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"article_body\" data-component=\"article-content\">\n<div class=\"article_body_content article-styling\">\n<p>There are nearly as many people playing Valve&#8217;s unreleased and invite-only game Deadlock on Steam as there  are <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/i-havent-been-this-excited-about-overwatch-in-10-years\">people playing the resurgent Overwatch<\/a>. Deadlock was actually the sixth most played game on Steam in January in the US, <a href=\"https:\/\/bsky.app\/profile\/matpiscatella.bsky.social\/post\/3mfcdhiexi62r\">according to stat-tracking company Circana<\/a>. It&#8217;s an indication, if such an indication was needed, that Valve&#8217;s next multiplayer game is shaping up to be something big.<\/p>\n<p>Deadlock is a team-based hero shooter, hence the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/games\/overwatch\">Overwatch<\/a> comparison, but it&#8217;s also a MOBA. It&#8217;s a mash of Valve&#8217;s other games <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/games\/team-fortress-2\">Team Fortress 2<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/games\/dota-2\">Dota 2<\/a>, really. You pick a kind of 1930s gangster-inspired fantasy hero, then you set about earning cash while killing computer-controlled characters in &#8216;lanes&#8217; so you can buy upgrades and power yourself up, and overwhelm the opposing team of players.<\/p>\n<p>Deadlock was softly launched a while ago, in the autumn of 2024, and being Valve&#8217;s next game, naturally had a lot of interest. But player numbers dropped off until <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/valve-major-update-new-characters-patrons\">in January this year, a large Old Gods, New Blood update was released<\/a>. This brought six new characters to the game along with a new faster game mode, and overhauled a large part of the overall experience.<\/p>\n<p>The effect of the update was dramatic, propelling concurrent player numbers from a highpoint of around 30,000 at the start of the year, <a href=\"https:\/\/steamdb.info\/app\/1422450\/charts\/#max\">according to SteamDB<\/a>, to a peak of 125,000 concurrents 24 hours ago. Overwatch, by comparison, has a current peak Steam playerbase of 134,000.<\/p>\n<figure>\n<div class=\"video_wrapper youtube\">\n<a aria-label=\"The Only Beginner\u2019s Guide You Need for Deadlock\" class=\"video-facade full-size\" data-platform=\"youtube\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/-NyPdE6mL9s?autoplay=1\" title=\"Click to play video from YouTube\"><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Cover image for YouTube video\" class=\"video-facade__image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/-NyPdE6mL9s\/hqdefault.jpg\"><span class=\"video-facade__title\">The Only Beginner\u2019s Guide You Need for Deadlock<\/span><\/p>\n<p><\/a>\n<\/div><figcaption>This is a good overview &#8211; and player&#8217;s guide &#8211; for Deadlock.<a class=\"video\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=-NyPdE6mL9s\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Watch on YouTube<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Deadlock&#8217;s numbers are all the more remarkable because you can&#8217;t freely access the game. You need someone currently playing to invite you which, granted, is fairly easily done &#8211; plenty of streamers and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=-NyPdE6mL9s\">Deadlock-specialising creators are handing codes out<\/a> &#8211; but it isn&#8217;t open access. It&#8217;s also not being advertised or pushed by Valve in any way. <a href=\"https:\/\/store.steampowered.com\/app\/1422450\/Deadlock\/\">The Deadlock Steam page<\/a> doesn&#8217;t have much information on it at all. Yet, people are flocking to it.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"injection_placeholder\" data-position=\"1\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p>In many ways, it&#8217;s not surprising. Valve&#8217;s pedigree is unquestionable, with Team Fortress 2 arguably creating the hero shooter &#8211; a formula Blizzard borrowed and honed for Overwatch &#8211; and Dota 2 being one of the most popular MOBAs (and games full stop) in the world today. Dota 2&#8217;s current peak concurrent player base is 830,000, which is staggering. It&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/store.steampowered.com\/charts\/mostplayed\">the second most played game on Steam<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Deadlock currently has no release date, nor is there any word when it will be available openly to test and play.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"poll_wrapper\" data-fixed=\"true\" data-hashid data-init=\"false\" data-poll-position=\"1\"><\/span><\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"preferred-source\" data-component=\"preferred-source\">\nLove Eurogamer.net? Make us a <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\">Preferred Source on Google<\/a> and catch more of our coverage in your feeds.  <\/div>\n<\/article>\n<div class=\"article_body\" data-component=\"article-content\">\n<div class=\"article_body_content article-styling\">\n<p>There are nearly as many people playing Valve&#8217;s unreleased and invite-only game Deadlock on Steam as there  are <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/i-havent-been-this-excited-about-overwatch-in-10-years\">people playing the resurgent Overwatch<\/a>. Deadlock was actually the sixth most played game on Steam in January in the US, <a href=\"https:\/\/bsky.app\/profile\/matpiscatella.bsky.social\/post\/3mfcdhiexi62r\">according to stat-tracking company Circana<\/a>. It&#8217;s an indication, if such an indication was needed, that Valve&#8217;s next multiplayer game is shaping up to be something big.<\/p>\n<p>Deadlock is a team-based hero shooter, hence the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/games\/overwatch\">Overwatch<\/a> comparison, but it&#8217;s also a MOBA. It&#8217;s a mash of Valve&#8217;s other games <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/games\/team-fortress-2\">Team Fortress 2<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/games\/dota-2\">Dota 2<\/a>, really. You pick a kind of 1930s gangster-inspired fantasy hero, then you set about earning cash while killing computer-controlled characters in &#8216;lanes&#8217; so you can buy upgrades and power yourself up, and overwhelm the opposing team of players.<\/p>\n<p>Deadlock was softly launched a while ago, in the autumn of 2024, and being Valve&#8217;s next game, naturally had a lot of interest. But player numbers dropped off until <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/valve-major-update-new-characters-patrons\">in January this year, a large Old Gods, New Blood update was released<\/a>. This brought six new characters to the game along with a new faster game mode, and overhauled a large part of the overall experience.<\/p>\n<p>The effect of the update was dramatic, propelling concurrent player numbers from a highpoint of around 30,000 at the start of the year, <a href=\"https:\/\/steamdb.info\/app\/1422450\/charts\/#max\">according to SteamDB<\/a>, to a peak of 125,000 concurrents 24 hours ago. Overwatch, by comparison, has a current peak Steam playerbase of 134,000.<\/p>\n<figure>\n<div class=\"video_wrapper youtube\">\n<a aria-label=\"The Only Beginner\u2019s Guide You Need for Deadlock\" class=\"video-facade full-size\" data-platform=\"youtube\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/-NyPdE6mL9s?autoplay=1\" title=\"Click to play video from YouTube\"><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Cover image for YouTube video\" class=\"video-facade__image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/-NyPdE6mL9s\/hqdefault.jpg\"><span class=\"video-facade__title\">The Only Beginner\u2019s Guide You Need for Deadlock<\/span><\/p>\n<p><\/a>\n<\/div><figcaption>This is a good overview &#8211; and player&#8217;s guide &#8211; for Deadlock.<a class=\"video\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=-NyPdE6mL9s\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Watch on YouTube<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Deadlock&#8217;s numbers are all the more remarkable because you can&#8217;t freely access the game. You need someone currently playing to invite you which, granted, is fairly easily done &#8211; plenty of streamers and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=-NyPdE6mL9s\">Deadlock-specialising creators are handing codes out<\/a> &#8211; but it isn&#8217;t open access. It&#8217;s also not being advertised or pushed by Valve in any way. <a href=\"https:\/\/store.steampowered.com\/app\/1422450\/Deadlock\/\">The Deadlock Steam page<\/a> doesn&#8217;t have much information on it at all. Yet, people are flocking to it.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"injection_placeholder\" data-position=\"1\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p>In many ways, it&#8217;s not surprising. Valve&#8217;s pedigree is unquestionable, with Team Fortress 2 arguably creating the hero shooter &#8211; a formula Blizzard borrowed and honed for Overwatch &#8211; and Dota 2 being one of the most popular MOBAs (and games full stop) in the world today. Dota 2&#8217;s current peak concurrent player base is 830,000, which is staggering. It&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/store.steampowered.com\/charts\/mostplayed\">the second most played game on Steam<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Deadlock currently has no release date, nor is there any word when it will be available openly to test and play.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"poll_wrapper\" data-fixed=\"true\" data-hashid data-init=\"false\" data-poll-position=\"1\"><\/span><\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Home News Valve&#8217;s new Deadlock shooter nearly as popular on Steam as Overwatch, despite being invite-only and far from finished It&#8217;s only at half life. Image credit: Valve News by Robert Purchese Associate Editor Published on Feb. 23, 2026 4 comments Follow Deadlock There are nearly as many people playing Valve&#8217;s unreleased and invite-only game [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[226,253],"class_list":["post-1788143","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-crawlmanager","tag-eurogamer-net"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1788143","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1788143"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1788143\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1788143"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1788143"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1788143"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}